Wristbands
by nalujerzagruviagale
Summary: A simple, boho accessory commonly used by the younger generations. Lots of people wear them. They correlate the colors and patterns to match their fashion choice of the day, or even adorn the simple accessories with rhinestones and beads. Lucy wore one every day. WARNING: Mentions of self-harm.
1. Chapter 1

**I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL. If I did, there would be a lot more sneaking off to broom closets, I can promise you that.**

It was just a wristband.

A simple, boho accessory commonly used by the younger generations. Lots of people wear them. They correlate the colors and patterns to match their fashion choice of the day, or even adorn the simple accessories with rhinestones and beads. Lucy wore one every day. It was simple, and black so it went with nearly everything. In fact, the times she was seen without it were few and far between.

"Why, Luce?" The young dragon slayer asked quietly from the bed. Lucy Heartfillia looked up from her work on her novel with a surprised "huh?" She turned around to look at the rose-headed boy laying on the bed on his side, head propped up by one hand while the fingers of the other plucked at the comforter mindlessly.

"Natsu, what're you talking about?" The blonde celestial mage crossed her legs, looking at him curiously. She watched his face as his eyes met hers, and then flicked down to her wristband. She touched the material on her right wrist and raised an eyebrow.

"It's a wristband, people wear them t-"

"Bull." Natsu looked her dead in the eye, now sitting up and seemingly peering into her soul. Lucy made a noise of protested, but soon quieted, lowering her hands onto her lap.

"How do you know?" Lucy didn't meet his gaze as she asked this question, her cheeks a light pink color, her eyes finding a focal point on the bedroom rug. The dragon slayer said nothing, but gently grabbed her right hand in his.

"Natsu, ple-" she was cut off as Natsu removed the wrist band, and clenched his teeth.

"You never answered my question," Natsu threw the wristband across the room. He stared at the newly made cuts on her wrist, not possibly more than a few days old, "Why, Lucy?" The blonde stared at his face, his eyes not leaving the marks that, to her, represented the weaknesses she had yet to conquer. She read anger, sadness, and...dare she say helplessness in the young man's face.

"Natsu..." He looked up at her, a single tear brimming at the corner of his eye, his eyebrows furrowed and his teeth gnashing.

"WHY THE HELL DO YOU DO THIS TO YOURSELF, LUCY? YOU HAVE A FAMILY. FRIENDS WHO CARE ABOUT YOU AND WANT TO PROTECT YOU FROM HARM. HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO THAT? WE CAN'T PROTECT YOU FROM YOU! I can't protect you." The pink-headed mage had released her wrist and was standing, staring down at her, fists clenched and breathing heavily after the outburst. Lucy had grasped her arm in her left hand and pulled them close to her chest, eyes fearfully studying Natsu for any further words before she spoke herself.

"I'm not worth your worry, Natsu," he relaxed his body, and stood up straight eyeing her with curiosity, "I have been told from a very young age that the only thing I was good for was my body. Father would take me along to business meetings with him, before I ran away that is, and would strike up a deal: 'give me what I want and you'll have a shot at marrying my daughter'. I mean, even when I went back to him to right my wrongs, the first things he talked about was marrying me off...I suppose it was good for my self confidence. After all, that's not something I'm lacking in. But after these past few days, when Phantom Lord nearly killed every single one of my friends...the entire guild...and even Mira, disguising herself as me to try and buy time knowing full well she could've been killed. I'm not worth the hundreds of lives that make up the Fairy Tail guild..." Lucy trailed off sadly, looking at the floor.

"Gih..." Natsu was starting to catch fire, his fists balled and shaking. The celestial spirit mage, looked up through her silent tears, gasping lightly.

"Hundreds of lives...haven't you learned yet?...Fairy Tail is one guild...one family...ONE LIFE. We all fight for each other and we all put ourselves on the line for one of our own. DAMMIT LUCY, WE WOULDN'T HAVE FOUGHT FOR YOU IF IT WASN'T WORTH IT," Seeing her tears, the fire dragon ceased his flames and took a strangled breath, "please, Luce," he kneeled in front of her and gently took her right hand, kissing the marks on her wrist, "I can't lose you...especially not to yourself."

She cried out, flinging her arms around his neck, and falling into him. She sobbed into his shoulder and he, although surprised at first, wrapped one arm around her waist pulling her close, and placed his other hand gently in her hair.

Lucy pulled back, and looked at him with tear-brimmed eyes. The dragon and the princess eyed each other with such ferocity, Lucy swore she felt the room on fire. The two somehow drifted closer to each other, and Lucy whispered a feeble 'thank you,' their lips mere inches apart.

"AYE, SIR!" Lucy shrieked and toppled to the ground as Natsu shot up and threw his fist in the air, giving an impression that would put Happy to shame. Lucy gave a sweet smile as he then made his way to her kitchen.

'Wow. I lucked out with this one, mom...' The thought slowly disappeared as the blonde heard crashing and a very un-manly scream.

"NATSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

-

**Well? What'd you guys think? This is my first time writing, so please leave me a review of what you thought!**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, originally this was only supposed to be a one-shot. But, after PMing BlueCross03 (thanks so much for the input and inspiration!), I got the idea to write this chapter. It's short, and I'm not 100% there will be more, but you never know. Thanks so much for the favorites and positive reviews! Lemme know what you think!**

-

Lucy sighed and put her pen down, stretching her arms up and arching her back. She gave a sad smile and sealed the letter she had written to her mother, placing it with the rest.

"I miss you, mom." the mage whispered. She stood up and began removing the ribbon from her hair, reminiscing over the day's activities. She and Natsu had gone on another mission. According to Natsu, it was "simple", and even agreed to letting Lucy have the front run after she all but begged him. However, when the time came for Lucy to put the bandits in that small town in their place, she couldn't have summoned Taurus for more than 10 minutes before her magic energy was drained. So once again, Natsu had to save her while Happy flew her to safety, managing to give his ever insistent, "have you put on weight?" in the process. Lucy eyed her reflection in the mirror and did a series of cute poses.

"Nope, still looking good!" she gave herself a wink, and then returned to her previous state of disappointment. She would never be as strong as Natsu, Gray, Erza, even Happy seemed to have more magic power than her! She caught her jewelry box out of the corner of her eyes. That's where she kept them. It had been a while. About three months since she last took a blade to her skin. She felt the need to...well, feel. The blonde reached into the box, past the earrings and bracelets and took out a small silk pouch, and dumped the contents onto her comforter, sitting down in front of them. She picked one up and slowly pressed it into her wrist, letting out a hiss at the pain that made her feel so alive.

Most people think self harm is crazy, a psychotic thing that only sick people do. To Lucy it was different. It made her feel alive when depression crept in and made her feel useless, a waste, dead. When she was a young teen, it had been the only thing she knew. She didn't have people that made her feel wanted; that made her feel like she was a part of something important.

Just as she was about to draw another line in her skin, she thought of Natsu. How upset he had been when he found out. So insistent that she stayed strong for the guild. For him. For herself...Tears formed in the celestial spirit mage's eyes as she threw the blade across the room.

"I am wanted...I AM worth it." she muttered through clenched teeth as she walked to the bathroom and dumped the rest of the contents that had been in the silk pouch into the toilet, flushing without hesitation. She then walked to the sink and ran cool water over the one shallow cut on her wrist, watching as the red water slowly turned to pink, and then ran clear.

As the young woman walked out of the bathroom, she heard clattering and saw Natsu, one leg in the window, struggling to climb through and knocking the things on her side table over in the process.

"Oi, Luce! A hand?" The dragon slayer gave an innocent smile and then sniffed the air, falling in the room with a frown on his face, "Lucy, did you-"

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM YOU MOOCH!" She yelled, giving an ever famous Lucy kick as he yelled out in protest.

Little did the young man know that he was the reason she had ended her self-destructive habit. But she didn't need his head any bigger than it already was. She'd tell him another time.

Lucy climbed into bed, snuggling under the covers and closing her eyes. A few minutes later, she felt the weight on her bed shift and was greeted with an unexpected, yet pleasant warmth. She feigned sleep as the young man sniffed a little closer and gently grasped her wrist. She felt his grip tighten and blushed furiously as he pulled her to his chest, wrapping his strong arms around her.

"I'm not gonna leave you, Luce. We can do this together." The two lay like this, Lucy burying her face subconsciously into the warm, strong chest in front of her before drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

They were partners. Nothing was going to stop them from working together. No matter the problem, no matter the obstacles. They were partners, and anything that tried to take them apart be damned.


End file.
